Bas van Fraassen Quotes
Bas C. van Fraassen is a Dutch-born American philosopher of science, distinguished professor emeritus at Princeton University and former professor at San Francisco State University, and the principal contemporary defender of constructive empiricism in the philosophy of science. The quotes below are attributed to Bas van Fraassen, organized by topic.
Bas van Fraassen on Knowledge
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Attributed to Bas van Fraassen:
“The aim of science is to give us theories that are empirically adequate; truth about the unobservable is a bonus we cannot guarantee.”
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Attributed to Bas van Fraassen:
“Constructive empiricism is realism's twin, distinguished only by the question of what is to be believed.”
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Attributed to Bas van Fraassen:
“To accept a theory is not to believe it true; it is to commit to using it for empirical inquiry.”
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Attributed to Bas van Fraassen:
“Empiricism is a stance, not a doctrine; it is the discipline of asking what experience can support.”
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Attributed to Bas van Fraassen:
“The image of science is what philosophy of science properly studies; the science is for the scientists.”
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“The Scientific Image (1980), p. 40.”
I claim that the success of current scientific theories is no miracle. It is not even surprising to the scientific (Darwinist) mind. For any scientific theory is born into a life of fierce competition, a jungle red in tooth and claw. Only the successful theories survive—the ones which in fact latched onto the actual regularities in nature.
Bas van Fraassen on Life
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“I claim that the success of current scientific theories is no miracle. It is not even surprising to the scientific (Darwinist) mind. For any scientific theory is born into a life of fierce competition, a jungle red in tooth and claw. Only the successful theories survive—the ones which in fact latched onto the actual regularities in nature.”
The Scientific Image (1980), p. 40.